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All Day Every Day, Fuller Strives To Emulate Johnson

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Ten minutes after the Detroit Lions drafted him in 2013, wide receiver Corey Fuller resolved to follow around his soon-to-be teammate Calvin Johnson as much as possible.

"I hadn't even met him," Fuller said Friday, "but I knew I was going to do it."

Since Johnson arrives at the Lions facility in Allen Park before almost everyone else, Fuller decided to do the same. In fact, he wanted to do one better and show up to work before Johnson.

"I would try to beat him in the building, and I would get here, I don't even remember what time, it would be super early, and I'm like, 'Yes, I beat him,' and I'd say something to him, like, 'Yeah, I beat you in the building,'" Fuller recalled. "[He'd say], 'Nah, I've been here, I just parked somewhere else.' I can't beat him in the building no matter how hard I try.

"He probably gets here before 6 o'clock sometimes, and he lives probably 30 minutes away. I live five minutes away and I can't beat him," Fuller added. "He knows I try to beat him. I'm not going to wake up at 5:15 and get here at 5:30, but I'm going to get here early enough to take care of my body. He – yeah. He – that's why he's so good."

Fuller spent the 2013 season on the practice squad but made the 53-man roster this year. Targeted sparingly in the first four games, he has seen a jump in action as Johnson has been sidelined by an ankle injury. As a result, Fuller played 61 percent of offensive snaps in week five, 74 percent in week six, and 89 percent in weeks seven and eight. He now has 12 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown.

With Johnson returning this week, Fuller expects his role Sunday against the Miami Dolphins will probably shrink down to what it was the first few games of the season, when Johnson was healthy, but the confidence he has gained in the last few weeks will stay with him.

"I remember the first game, I was a little nervous, a little timid, had a lot on my mind for some reason, just about the game, where now I'm confident," Fuller said. "I can just play, play fast, and not have to worry about anything."

In his brief time in the league, the 24-year-old Fuller has observed every detail about how Johnson goes about his job - the frequency and types of massages he gets, how he warms up for practices and for games, what he does after practice, what he does in the weight room, how he puts in work while other players eat lunch or wait for meetings to begin. Some of Johnson's procedure Fuller unearths through conversation with him, and other minutia he simply observes and tucks away.

"I ask him a lot," Fuller said. "Sometimes I look from a distance. I'm a quiet person, so I look from a distance, and I look at everything, and I think he knows it. I'm trailing him. He leads by example for me. He's like a big brother.

"He's real good with it," Fuller added later. "I think I'm like that annoying little brother, but he doesn't mind. He's willing to help."

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell spoke with delight Friday about how Fuller has improved and dedicated himself to patterning his routine off that of Johnson.

"The best thing that he has done is that he has taken it upon himself to attach himself to Calvin," Caldwell said with a smile. "He does whatever Calvin does. If I were him I would do exactly the same thing. He follows him around in terms of his regimen in the morning, when they're working during the offseason he was right there next to him, his stretch routine he's right there with him. What it is is that you very rarely get an opportunity to study under the best at his craft in the business.

"We try to push every single one of our young guys to do just that, but not all of them do," Caldwell continued. "Particularly, taking the advice of veterans that have been in the league nine or ten years, guys like Reggie [Bush], guys that have been around the block, Rashean Mathis, those guys can teach you some things that will help you skip a couple bad experiences because of their knowledge. I have to commend Corey. He's done just that and been tremendous in that area. I think you're going to see it's going to pay huge dividends for this guy down the stretch. He hasn't even scratched the surface where he's going to be, but I'll tell you, I'm impressed with him."

While Fuller has not been able to beat Johnson to Allen Park in the morning, he tries to get in around the same time. Offensive lineman Rob Sims said several players get in that early - him, fellow lineman Dominic Raiola, quarterback Matthew Stafford, Johnson, and safeties James Ihedigbo and Glover Quin among them.

Fuller has added himself to that mix.

"It is impressive," Sims said. "Sometimes you encounter that guy that's smart and ahead of the curve a little bit that understands. He's looking for an edge, and he's finding it. When it's up for grabs, you've got to take little things like that to get it done.

"I had a chance to follow Walter Jones back when I was younger - I did the same thing," Sims added. "You follow the guys you admire; you do the things that they do, hopefully it'll rub off on you. I've seen him do that, and it's done nothing but help him."

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